


Coffee Homeground

by sainthound



Series: Camp Camp rarepair hell [2]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Clarice is harrison's mom, Dana is Nurf's mom, F/F, Fluff, I dont really know what tags to put on this??, Implied sex I guess, Joseph is Harrison's dad, illicit relationships, nothing explicit at all but they had to be doing something in dana's bed right??, so apparently those are actual listed tags now wow, they're maybe in their early/mid twenties here, you know the drill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 10:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16532492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sainthound/pseuds/sainthound
Summary: Being with her is like watching a mouse nibble on poisoned food, and being unable to do anything about it.





	Coffee Homeground

"Can you imagine me being a mother?"

Dana turned on her side, raising one eyebrow tiredly. "Clare, it's 3AM. What?"

Clarice shrugged, hugging herself. "I don't know. I just think... well, sometimes I think I might want children. But then I realise- no, it's stupid. Ignore me. Goodnight, Dana."

"Wait, hold on." Dana sat up, propping herself against a pillow. She rubbed a hand over her freckled face and yawned. "Why are you thinking this all of a sudden? What set this off?"

Clarice sighed quietly and looked up at her, curled under the blanket. In the darkened room her mournful eyes looked like glass. "Joseph wants me to think about it. Dana. Can you imagine me as a mother?"

"Joseph." Dana's eyes narrowed. Things between Clarice and Joseph were already walking the cusp of dysfunctional; the second Clarice turned eighteen she'd been married off, and while she hadn't stopped seeing Dana, her spirits were understandably dampened. 

But it was worse than that. Her hands trembled and she jumped at every small noise or sudden movement. She seemed constantly sick, and even when she smiled it didn't quite reach her eyes. Joseph had turned down the opacity on the bright little spitfire Dana knew, and left her faded and fragile.

She clenched her fists at her sides.

"...Dana?" Clarice's voice was high and frightened. "Do you think I'd be a good mother?"

Dana lay back down and turned her head, shifting one arm over the smaller woman to stroke her hair. It was getting very long, and in the summer she'd sometimes thread daisies and black-eyed susans and primroses through it until she looked like she should be laying in the grass at Woodstock.

"Dana?" Her voice came out like a tiny mouse squeak. "Do you-"

"No." Dana cupped her pale face with one hand. "Clare, you sound fucking terrified."

Clarice didn't answer, lowering her gaze so that her eyelashes cast shadows over her cheeks. Dana kept stroking her hair.

"Is this something you want? Do you want kids?"

"Don't know," Clarice mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. "Joseph says-"

"To hell with what Joseph says."

"My mom says-"

"God, Clare!" Dana's voice rose, and Clarice flinched. She quickly softened her tone again, her brow furrowed with worry. "I'm- sorry. I didn't mean to yell. It's just... I'm worried about you. It sounds like you're being pressured."

"They're just asking," Clarice muttered, not meeting Dana's eyes. "They want to know when I'll be ready to have children. It's... okay."

"When? When you'll be ready?" Dana's voice unwittingly got louder. "What if you'll never be ready? They never considered that possibility, huh? Fucking Joseph! Sometimes I just wanna-"

A whimper. Dana stopped and gazed carefully at Clarice. She'd gone white as a sheet and her left eye was twitching anxiously, the pulse in her neck jumping so hard she could feel it just by touching her shoulder. "God, Clare, I'm sorry."

"You keep yelling at me."

"Not at you. I'm just-" Dana sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and pulling Clarice against her chest. She nestled close, shutting her eyes. "I just worry about you. I worry about your safety in that marriage, sweetie. You understand that, right?"

Clarice swallowed visibly. "Can we go to sleep now? I need to be back before Joseph suspects anything."

Dana bit her tongue and rubbed one hand up and down Clarice's arm. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. You go to sleep. I'll set an alarm for five."

Both women fell into silence. Dana rested her chin gently on Clarice's head.

"...Clare?"

"Mmh?"

"You know I'm always here if you need me, right? I'm always here if you need help. You can come to me about anything at all, anytime."

Clarice took in a sharp breath, and for a moment Dana thought she was about to cry, tell her everything, beg for them to elope. But then she breathed out, and pressed closer.

"I know. Thank you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."


End file.
